7 Bad Habits That Bosses Never Want to See at Work

However,
in all three situations, the characteristics are the same. How these
employees got there, or why they’re there, might be a different story,
but for employers, it all starts with being able to recognize some of
these characteristics. If you can recognize that an employee is
unproductive, that’s the first step in making changes.
Consider some of these traits and actions to look for below:
1. Complaining
It
doesn’t matter why someone is complaining or whom he or she is
complaining to (or about), complaints often show that someone is not
willing to put in the work to make a change. It’s a time waster, and
it’s almost always easier to complain than to be productive. As John
Brandon mentioned in a past article, “The really productive people don’t
dwell on the problem. They just do the work.”
2. Making Excuses
Similar
to complaining, making excuses is not the way to be productive. It’s
one thing if things don’t get done because other things take priority,
but if something doesn’t get done because of an unfair excuse, then
that’s a problem with the employee. Start paying attention and see if
there seems to be an excuse for everything. One or two every once in a
while is OK, but excuses can get out of hand quickly.
3. Putting Things Off
This
characteristic can go right along with excuses. Most of the time, an
employee will put something off because of an excuse, but sometimes
you’ll notice that he or she will act like it can wait and brush a task
off as “not a big deal.” Again, while this might be OK in small doses,
if it becomes a habit you have a problem.
4. Running Everything by the Boss
This
may happen for one of two reasons: Either the employee is hoping the
boss will just do the work or delegate it to someone else (usually
because of excuses the employee lays out), or the employee doesn’t feel
like he or she can be independent and get things done. In either
situation, an employee won’t be productive. Part of productivity is
being able to take the problems at hand, get creative, and work hard to
solve them, and part is actually wanting to solve them. Running to the
boss doesn’t help anyone get to that point, and therefore hurts
productivity.
5. Only Caring About Getting Credit
This
is a classic sign of someone who does not really care about the job.
Therefore, such employees only worry about being productive if it’s
going to get them credit in the long run. In order to really be
productive, you have to be creative and innovative in your role—simply
doing what you’re told and then stopping your work isn’t always using
your time efficiently. Even more than simply being unproductive, this is
a characteristic that really shows an employee is not motivated, which
brings us to our next point.
6. There Is No Motivation or Drive
You
can usually tell if people don’t have motivation or drive if they’re
doing all of the things mentioned above—making excuses, putting things
off, complaining, and always bothering the boss. All of these feelings
combined with a lethargic attitude contribute to not being productive.
Why would an employee be productive if he or she doesn’t care about the
company and what that productivity could produce? After all, being
productive takes work.
In some cases, there is a lack of motivation and productivity simply because that employee was the wrong fit to begin with.
7. Personal Betterment and Brand Is Slipping
This
is usually what happens when people get complacent at their jobs. Maybe
they’re doing what they’re told and not making excuses or complaining,
and maybe they even sometimes solve problems on their own and get things
done, but if their personal brand and betterment is slipping, then the
work becomes routine. Part of being productive is learning new skills
and taking pride in an online brand (even if it’s just to help the
company). This shows independence and it shows motivation. Without this,
productivity lacks.
The Takeaway
As
you can see, a lot of the characteristics mentioned above compliment
one another and string together. It almost works like a domino effect,
so you’ll likely see an unproductive employee exhibiting more than three
or four of the characteristics on the list. The best thing you can do
as an employer is to be able to look for and recognize these traits and
then take steps to re-motivate the employee.
0 comments:
Post a Comment